Embracing Our Heritage on July 4th

Some July 4th traditions endure better than others. We’ll always have fireworks, parades, and family picnics. But there was a time when presidents offered eloquent speeches on America’s birthday aimed at fostering unity and gratitude. In these fractious times, who can deny we could use more of that?

While few might clamor for another presidential speech, we’re losing a sense of who we are and the significance of our heritage. It's a tradition worth renewing, especially with our 250th anniversary on the horizon.

Both Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge delivered notable July 4th speeches. Coolidge once said, “It is to pay our tribute of reverence and respect to those who participated in such a mighty event that we annually observe the fourth day of July.” This event was, of course, the birth of a new nation.

It's easy to forget the remarkable deeds, selflessness, and accomplishments of our Founding Fathers. General George Washington defeated the most formidable military in the world. The Constitution was the “miracle of Philadelphia,” and it remains the oldest written constitution in existence. These undertakings were assumed for the benefit of not only those first Americans, but their posterity.

Coolidge highlighted the significance of the Declaration of Independence, explaining, “It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history.” The Declaration put forth the revolutionary idea that no human being is born to rule over others without their consent. This idea makes each American the fortunate inheritor of a unique trust: a nation committed to self-government.

This trust establishes a chain of gratitude and obligation for today's American people. The Founding generation launched the experiment. The current generation has the task of continuing it by governing themselves, assuming their duties, and respecting the rights of others. Without appreciating their heritage, we can’t expect them to remain galvanized to maintain a life of freedom for their children.

Such reflections serve to inspire and humble. Contemporary Americans are the posterity, but not the sole source of America’s material blessings. From the Founding to Lincoln’s time, America had grown in size, population, and wealth. The “iron men” who fought for American principles enabled the “degree of prosperity that we now enjoy.” The Founders established a commercial republic, respectful of property rights and disdainful of class distinctions, that unleashed American ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and mobility.

Lincoln and Coolidge believed such enterprise could ultimately be traced to the Declaration of Independence. It is the principle of human equality that eliminates fixed social status and gives individuals the right to eat the bread their own hands earn, as Lincoln explained.

Coolidge contended, “The things of the spirit come first.” He warned that unless Americans cling to the Declaration, “all our material prosperity, overwhelming though it may appear, will turn to a barren scepter in our grasp.” Material pursuits, when not bound by eternal and immutable principles, become destructive. Self-reliance degrades to autonomy, greed, and consumerism. Abundance, without the transcendent and sacrificial, ushers in a crisis of purpose and meaning. Coolidge’s words are prophetic for our time.

Fortunately, Coolidge also provided a path forward. Examining the past underscores the unifying work that went into the Declaration and offers hope for renewed consensus. The Declaration was not the work of privileged, select statesmen but “the result of the seasoned and deliberate thought of the dominant portion of the people of the Colonies.”

The principle of equality was present in nine of the early state constitutions, according to Founding scholar Dr. Thomas West. Ideas about inherent natural rights and equality were put forth in the Virginia Declaration of Rights, penned by George Mason, prior to the Declaration of Independence. The recognition that “all men are created equal” was made accessible by the Judeo-Christian tenet that all are equal in the eyes of God. Influential religious leaders like Rev. Thomas Hooker preached to the approximately 70-80% of colonial Americans who attended church that, “The foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people.”

Both Coolidge and Lincoln believed American unity resides in the Declaration. Lincoln asserted that the principle “all men are created equal” establishes a common moral sentiment. It is the right of every American to “claim it as though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration.” For so we are.

That is the electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together and will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.

It is fidelity to a set of principles, rather than exclusive religions or ethnicities, that defines Americans.

Matching Lincoln, Coolidge contended:

About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful … If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.

Americans can find contentment, solitude, and pride in the resilient principles of the Declaration of Independence and the connectivity they offer.

In Fourth of Julys gone by, Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge delivered two speeches worthy of Americans’ lasting consideration. Who will be the next statesman to do so? It may be some time, as such genius is difficult to match. Yet perhaps it is not so essential that presidents today echo their masterful words. What matters most is that we Americans believe them ourselves.

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